Kennedy Investment Group Takes $568,000 Position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)

Kennedy Investment Group purchased a new position in BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 600 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $568,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. IAG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Investment Management Corp VA ADV purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in BlackRock in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BlackRock in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. 80.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on BLK shares. Bank of America decreased their target price on BlackRock from $1,196.00 to $1,178.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on BlackRock from $950.00 to $990.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,045.00 to $1,010.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Argus upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,028.00 to $1,090.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of BlackRock from $1,035.00 to $1,105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, BlackRock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $1,096.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other BlackRock news, Director J. Richard Kushel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $912.50, for a total value of $9,125,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 66,034 shares in the company, valued at $60,256,025. This trade represents a 13.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.98% of the company's stock.

BlackRock Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of BLK opened at $974.60 on Friday. BlackRock has a twelve month low of $773.74 and a twelve month high of $1,084.22. The company has a market cap of $150.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a current ratio of 4.34, a quick ratio of 4.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $948.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $969.93.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 11th. The asset manager reported $11.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $10.84 by $0.46. BlackRock had a net margin of 30.09% and a return on equity of 15.57%. The company had revenue of $5.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $9.81 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that BlackRock will post 47.41 EPS for the current year.

BlackRock Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a $5.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $20.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. BlackRock's payout ratio is 50.63%.

BlackRock Company Profile

BlackRock, Inc is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm primarily provides its services to institutional, intermediary, and individual investors including corporate, public, union, and industry pension plans, insurance companies, third-party mutual funds, endowments, public institutions, governments, foundations, charities, sovereign wealth funds, corporations, official institutions, and banks.

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